The present invention relates to a catheter valve and, more particularly, to a catheter valve of a mechanically simple design which can be attached to, or integrated into, a urinary catheter, for providing self control over urine outflow.
Catheter valves are well known in the art and a great number of configurations are commercially available as either catheter integral, or catheter plug-in, valves.
The valves employed by urinary catheters, such as for example, drainage catheters, incontinence catheters or other indwelling catheters are typically positioned out of the body so as to allow an individual to control urine outflow from the catheter.
The function and extra-body placement of such urinary catheter valves necessitates that the valve is ergonomically shaped and of small size, such that it does not cause any discomfort or physical damage to a patient even in cases where a patient is confined to a bed for a long time as is the case with older patients. In addition, since the motor functions of older patients are often reduced, a catheter valve must be extremely simple and easy to operate. Finally, in cases of long-term use, the valve must be configured so as to minimize the risk of contamination and therefore infection to the patient.
A number of urinary catheter valves which attempt to meet these requirements have been described in the prior art.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,570,898 describes a catheter and closure device in the form of a valve which remains in place at the drainage funnel of a catheter during normal urination and has to be separated from the funnel only for flushing out. The catheter valve includes a conical part serving for the insertion into the drainage funnel. Additionally, the valve includes on its inside a rubber-elastic valve hose adapted to be influenced from the outside, which during actuation of the valve is opened uninterruptedly but is closed in the non-actuated rest position by a single or multiple kink, fold or twist. The valve includes a fixed part with a through-bore as well as the rubber-elastic hose in extension of this bore. A sleeve with a spring is placed over these parts, whereby the kinked hose is straightened out by the axial displacement of the sleeve opposite the spring force.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,806 describes a self-closing catheter valve having a housing with an oval cross section and a conical hose attachment connector which can be inserted into a catheter drainage funnel. A valve hose piece partially extends through the housing. A V-shaped spring element deforms and constricts the valve hose piece by pressing the valve hose piece against a wall of the housing. An actuation member is positioned within the housing for bringing the self-closing catheter valve into an open position.
Although the above described catheter valves substantially improve comfort and ease of operation over other prior art valves, they are inherently limited by a mechanically complex configuration which utilizes spring elements for retaining a closed position. In addition, since such valves are designed to self close, an individual must physically maintain an open position to allow urine outflow, thus increasing the risk of valve contamination and therefore infection and severely limiting ease of operation.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, a catheter valve which is mechanically simple and ergonomic and which can be operated with ease even by older patients with reduced motor functions.